A High School Staff as a Group
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb009584 |
| Date | 01 February 1964 |
| Pages | 125-133 |
| Published date | 01 February 1964 |
| Author | K.J. WILSON |
| Subject Matter | Education |
THE JOURNAL
OF
EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION
125
VOLUME
II,
NUMBER
2
OCTOBER,
1964
A High School Staff as
a
Group
K. J.
WILSON
A principal should expect
to get no
more
out of his
staff than
he
puts into
it.
Recent leadership theory stresses
the
importance
of
involving
the
staff group
in
decision making
and
action taking.
The involvement
of a
staff group
in an
Australian rural high
school
was
investigated
and it was
found that little communica-
tion took place
on
school matters, that there
was
little involve-
ment
in
decision making, that
the
goals
of the
group were
confused. Although
the
power
of the
group
was not
being
released there
was a
considerable interest
by the
staff
in the
possibility
of
their being given
a
share
in
decision making. There
appear
to be
strong arguments,
in the
interests
of the
education
of children
and of
staff morale,
for the
maximum involvement
of staff members
in all
phases
of the
operation
of the
school.
To most
of our
minds
it was
Turnip Townshend
who
laid
down
the
principle that
you
cannot
get
more
out of the
soil than
you
are
prepared
to put
into
it.
Nowadays, however, home
gardeners, abiding
by
this principle,
are
using methods more
refined than growing turnips between their pansies.
The
difficulty
with most such matters
is
first
to
establish
a
principle based
on
a knowledge
of the
material being handled
and
then
to
offer
some refinement
as to how the
principle
can be
applied.
A
school
principal faces much
the
same sort
of
problem.
It has
been laid
down
for him by
example
how
principals should administer their
schools,
how
principals should "handle their
staff", how
firm
decisions should
be
made,
and so on. A
stereotype
is
generally
well established
in a
person's mind before
he
reaches
the
position
of principal.
It
is
well established that
it is the
function
of the
principal
to
"get as
much
out of his staff" as
possible.
But
what applies
to
vegetables surely applies
to
people,
i.e.
that
a
school principal
should
be as
much concerned about what
he
puts into
his
staff
as
he is
about what
he can get out of
them.
It is
true,
of
course,
that
the
main concern
of the
principal
is to see
that
the
educa-
tional needs
of his
pupils
are
being
met. It is
also true that
the
MR.
K. J.
WILSON
is
Headmaster
of
Mudgee High School,
New
South
Wales.
He has
taught Mathematics
in
high schools throughout
New
South
Wales
and
before
his
present appointment
was
head
of the
department
of
Mathematics
at
Monaro High School.
He
holds
the
degree
of
Bachelor
of
Arts
of
the
University
of
Sydney
and the
Diploma
in
Educational Administration
of
the
University
of New
England.
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